The Brothers' Lament
by Lady Lazy
Summary: A one-shot on the lives and pains of Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke, to the theme of 'The Last Song I'm Wasting on You' by Evanescence. Written for Uchiha Itachi's birthday.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the Uchiha brothers, or 'The Last Song I'm Wasting on You' by Evanescence.**

**Please listen to the song as you read; it inhances the effect, especially considering I had to remove the lyrics.**

* * *

As five year old Uchiha Itachi sat alone in his home, his baby brother, Sasuke, not yet six months, craddled to his chest, he could not help but shiver. Even from so far away, he could feel the crushing force of a chakra more powerful- more potent- more _terrible_ then anything he had ever felt before.

Little Sasuke must have felt it, too, because he had begun to cry. The sound snapped Itachi back to reality.

_'What an awful feeling...'_ the Uchiha heir mused, attempting to soothe the baby a bit, "There, there..." _'Why did mom and dad have to go out now?'_

Itachi smiled faintly, though, not wanting his troubles to upset the infant any further. "Don't cry, Sasuke. You big brother's here to protect you, no matter what happens."

The young heir had no idea how true his words really were- because he _would_ protect his little brother, with everything he had from everything he could- _because they were brothers- the same blood ran in their veins, so, even if moral lines blurred, and familial ties broke- even if everything became one big, depressing shade of grey, Itachi would always protect him- the one light in his monotonous life._

* * *

Thirteen year old Uchiha Itachi sat against the wall in his dark bedroom, contemplating.

Contemplating what?

Mass-parricide.

He was pacifist, as rediculous as the concept may seem for most ninja, and the _last_ thing he wanted to do was wipe out his entire clan. But, his clan had grown greedy- power-hungry, and they were willing and planning to start a civil war within their finally peaceful village, _just_ so that an Uchiha could claim the name of Hokage, because of some useless and _dead_ age-old feud with the Senju.

If he allowed this to happen...

Thousands would die, because of his resurvations.

And _that_ he could not- _would not_ allow. He had been only four when he himself had first beared witness to war- been forced to watch everyone around him die because of it, and, the last thing he wanted was more innocent children twisted by the horrors of war and death and _cold-hard__** reality**_ until they became like_ him_. He had no choice but to eliminate the threat-

He was jolted back to reality by his mother knocking on his door. He asked her what she wanted- she replied that he should come down to dinner.

He thought about it for a minute- before declining. His mother, so kind and caring, but, still willing to stand by the clan's planned coup d'état, left, clearly disappointed- _but, he could not allow himself to care. He could not afford to attach himself further- he had to pull away, or he wouldn't be able to go thrugh with what he knew he had to do. Because these were people he cared for, damn it- __**loved**__, even, but, they wanted to destroy everything he believed in- his Hokage, his village, their hard-won __**peace**__, and he could not allow hesitation or sympathy- could not allow his __**heart**__ to interfere, because, he knew- he knew he would have t watch them die- watch as the light left their eyes- as they stopped breathing- as their hearts beat their last, and they passed on from this plain of existence._

And, as he methodically and purposefully donned his ANBU gear that night, there was one thing on his mind- a mantra he repeated over and over again, and it was the only thing keeping him going-

_Just get through this day. Just get through this day. __**Just. Get. Through. This. Day!**_

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage, the Proffessor and Shinobi no Kami, had never been more disgusted with himself, and, considering that he had lived through three world wars, that was saying something.

Before him kneeled one of his best and most loyal shinobi, Uchiha Itachi, ANBU Captain and Uchiha clan heir.

He was partially spattered with blood, though, none of it was his own- surprisingly, the boy didn't have a single scratch or bruise on him. But, Sarutobi was still sickened by the sight.

Because, that blood belonged to the boy's own family- a family he had been ordered to annihilate. And order which Hiruzen himself had sanctioned. Regardless of whether or not it had to be done, mass-genocide was not something the Sandaime liked, least of all when approved by himself and carried out by a single thirteen year old boy, no matter how much of a genius or a prodigy he was.

As for Itachi himself- well, he was just glad that he had managed to regain enough of his usually at the very least exceptional control to come before his leader and beg for his brother's safety.

Sarutobi didn't have the heart to refuse the poor boy- he had already put him through so much that protecting his younger brother was the least the old Hokage could do.

When the Sandaime agreed to do as he asked, Itachi didn't think he could remember a time where he was ever more releived and grateful then he was now. Now, the ex-Uchiha heircould finally calm himself, because this was how it was supposed to be- _he would cease to be who he was in reality, and play the villian he had carefully crafted- he would give up his way, and, though he could be anything, he would play the bad guy, so that his brother would have a chance to survive. He knew it was likely that Sasuke's own way was now lost, and maybe even Sasuke, himself, because Itachi was well aware that he had probably just shattered the boy's every belief... but, though it may be a selfish want on Itachi's part, his brother would not die- not today. Itachi could only take so much- and ending Sasuke would be too much guilt to pay- he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that he, himself, had killed his precious baby brother-_

Yes. All was how it now _had to be_... and Uchiha Itachi was at peace with that.

* * *

As a sixteen year old Uchiha Sasuke stood facing the fading light of the sunset, he remembered...

**Flashback**

_"You and I are unique brothers." thirteen year old Itachi told eight year old Sasuke as they sat together on the back porch of their home. "As an obstacle you need to overcome, I..._

_"I'll always be there for you. Even if you end up hating me. That's what big brothers are for."_

**End Flashback**

He hadn't understood what Itachi meant back then, but, now it made sense- _and, he knew- he knew Itachi had always loved him._

* * *

"Madara is a bitter, defeated loser..." Itachi told his younger brother. "He is not worthy of becoming the best among the Uchiha.

"I am the one... who shall surpass Madara and become the ultimate ninja!" Hysteria edged its way into the Akatsuki member's tone, and Sasuke narrowed is eyes. "And now!" Itachi continued, "I can finally obtain power that exceeds Madara's!

"Sasuke!" he yelled, "You are my new light! You have my spare eyes!" A Sharingan-wielding monster formed behind the elder brother, which released a tenticle that started towards the younger.

"Originally," Itachi went on, sounding crazier with every word, "the Uchiha clan killed off friends in order to possess Mangekyo Sharingan, Parents and siblings killed each other off to possess eternal ocular powers..."-Now, the tenticle wrapped its self around Sasuke's torso, trapping his arms.-"And they showed off this power... They are a tainted clan! And, from the day you were bornn, you have been inevitably linked to this blood-sullied fate! Now come! My little brother!"-More tenticles started towards one of Sasuke's eyes.-"I shall kill you... and free myself from this fate and bring about true change! I will be free of the constraints that bind me! We are each other's spares!This is the true bond between the brothers of the Uchiha!"_ Sasuke was bound in place as Itachi screamed his pland to kill him- every false word killed Itachi a little more inside, but, he would be dead before the day was through, regardless, so, what did it matter?_

* * *

Itachi ran- he ran from the clan he had just massacred, from the blood and the bodies, but, most importantly, he ran from Sasuke- his beloved little brother, Sasuke, who's innocence he had just shattered irreversably, he knew.

It was almost funny, really, in a morbidly ironic sort of way. He had just indescriminately and methodically cut down his entire family- his aunts, his uncles, his cousins, his _parents_, heedless of age, skill level, ninja status, or lack there-of, and had successfully wiped out everyone bearing the name _Uchiha_ save for threee, himself included, in a single night, but, it was the fact that he had destroyed his little brother's innocence, and quite probably his slightly happy-go-lucky nature, that got to him the most.

All he knew was that he had to leave, _now_, if he didn't want to ruin everything.

Because Itachi had everything mapped out, and he didn't want _anything_, least of all his own emotions, to mess up all of his careful planning.

Because Sasuke had to hate him, because that hate was what was going to drive the youngest remaining Uchiha to grow strong enough to defeat his older brother; and so, from now on, Uchiha Itachi would play the emotionless, mass-murdering, S-class villian, until such a time that his precious little brother grew strong enough to kill him. Because, if Sasuke was strong enough to kill _him_, then, he was strong enough to protect himself from Madara, and every other threat that might come along after Itachi himself was gone and dead.

And so, he could not allow his otouto to see his tears.

Unfortunately, he probably had; Itachi had forgotten to hide them when Sasuke had taken him by surprise, and launched a kunai at him, slashing a deep gash through the Konoha insignia etched onto the metal plate of his Hitai-ate.

_'So, marked as a traitor by my own brother, hm?' _ He smiled in bitter amusement- the irony of it not escaping him.

But, still... that image would forever be burned into the ex-Uchiha heir's mind, even ignoring the fact that his Sharingan had been active- _Sasuke, betrayed, pain-filled eyes staring at him in anger and fear- glaring at him with unmatched hate (and, even though it was necessary, it __**hurt**__- damn it, did it hurt to know that Sasuke believed that Itachi would willingly hurt him like this), his newly-awoken Sharingan blazing- something that would have made him happy for his younger sibling under better circumstances, but, now, all he could think of was how morbidly... __**pretty**__ the familiar crimson iris and black tomoe of their clan's Kekkei Genkai looked in his little brother's eyes, knowing as he did that they would one day play a key role in his death- and then, after that, they might even one day be replaced... with his own._

* * *

Thirteen year old Uchiha Itachi stood before his three clansmen, all of whom he had just beat.

"Like I said earlier..." the Uchiha heir said, "It is not wise to judge others based on your preconceptions and by their appearances. You assume that I am patient, and therefore you underestimate me.

"It's always "The clan this", or "The clan that". You all fail to measure your own capacity, and then fail to see the depth of mine. Now you lay before me, defeated."

"Shisui was told to keep and eye on you..." one of the downed Uchiha policemen wheezed. He started struggling to get off the ground.

"After about half a year of working with the ANBU," the policeman continued, "your actions and manner of speech are stranger then ever. What's going on in that head of yours?"

Itachi replied, "You hold on to the organization, your clan, one's name... But these are things that limit us and our capacities and we should detach ourselves from such trivial things! Also, it is foolish to fear what we've yet to see or comprehend!" Just as the Uchiha heir was really letting loose, a voice rang out, cutting him off. "Cut it out, Itachi!"

Itachi looked towards it, and found the owner of the voice to be his father, Uchiha Fugaku. "Calm down." Fugaku continued, "What in the world is going on here?

"Itachi, you've been acting strange lately."

"Nothing is wrong." the 13 year old replied, "I'm simply carrying out my duty, that is all."

The Uchiha ichizoku head wasn't letting up, though. "Then why didn't you show up for the meeting?"

Itachi answered, "In order to reach the height..."

This only served to further confused the boy's father. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Unexpectedly, Itachi turned, Sharingan blazing, and hurled a kunai into one of the Uchiha fans painted onto the stone walls, cracking it.

"The height of my capacity." he replied. "I've lost all hope for this pathetic clan.

"You forget what's most important to you because you cling to something as insignificant as the clan. True change cannot be made by laws, limitations, predictions, or imagination."

"What arrogance!" a different one of the defeated Uchiha officers, who had finally recovered, exclaimed.

"That's enough." the first one added. "If you keep this up, we'll take you to jail!"

"So, what now?" the second asked.

"I can't put up with this anymore!" the third and final officer called. "Captain, order an arrest!" Fugaku, the 'Captain', turned to look at this officer.

Suddenly, Sasuke, who witnessed the whole thing, yelled, "Brother, stop it already!" Itachi turned to look at his otouto, who stood in the doorway to their house.

After a moment, the Uchiha heir allowed his Sharingan to fade, and dropped to his knees in a bow, his hands on the ground in front of him. The other Uchiha gasped.

"It is not I who killed Shisui..." he said, even though he knew it was a blatant lie, "But, for the words I have said, I deeply apologize." _He did all this, knowing the atrocities he would soon carry out, and knowing, that, from there, he was making his own way, all by himself. But, that was okay, because he just couldn't take their senseless hate anymore._

* * *

As eight year old Uchiha Sasuke stared at the faces of his recently deseasedparents, all he could think of was how scared he was.

Suddenly bolting up, he ran from the room- and from his parents' murderer, screaming, "Don't kill me!"

His brother- no, _the murderer_, was suddenly in front of him, blocking his escape.

"You're not even worth killing..." he said, "...Foolish little brother...

"If you want to kill me..." he continued monotonously, "Live miserably! Hate me! Survive through ugliness.

"...Run- run... Learn to survive."

It was because of this nightmare-worthy scene that a now-twelve year old Uchiha Sasuke faced off against that very same brother- that very same _murderer_, a Chidori chirping to life in his hand.

"...I've wanted to say this to you..." Sasuke said rage and hatred saturating his normally-calm tone. "I've lived hating you... And also that I have lived only to kill you..."

Itachi continued to stare his brother down calmy, and Sasuke screamed, "I HAVE LIVED FOR THIS!"

"...Chidori...?" the older brother questioned, seeming to ignore the younger's claims, even though every word his otouto spoke tore him apart inside. He had a set role to play, after all- he was the bad guy.

Sasuke charged, screaming, his Chidori tearing through the wall at his side. Itachi grabbed his wrist, deflecting the lightning jutsu like it was nothing. He stared his sibling down dispassionately.

The ex-Uchiha heir's attention was drawn away by his brother's teammate, though, and Sasuke, angry, muttered, "This bastard...!"

Itachi didn't hesitate. "You're in the way..." he said, before snapping the wrist he still grasped like a twig. His younger brother yelled out in pain and collapsed to the ground.

Sasuke listened as his _'brother'_ and his companion conversed with Jiraiya of the Sannin,staying quiet- until Jiraiya said that he would kill the both of them- Itachi and his companion. That he could not allow to happen.

"Don't do it." he said, struggling to his feet. "This guy... IS MINE!"

Itachi looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "...I have absolutely no interest in you right now." Without warning, he kicked the younger Uchiha into the wall. Sasuke yelled out, but, still pulled himself to his feet once more.

He heard his teammate say something, but, the young Uchiha would have non of it. "NARUTO!" he rebuked. "I told you... DON'T!" The Uchiha could feel his Curse Seal coming forth, but, couldn't bring himself to care. "_This fight is mine_."

Itachi started towards his brother, his pace sedate, but, Sasuke got impatient.

"COME ON!" he yelled.

Itachi hit him in the stomach, and he cried out. The elder brother delievered several other blows, each vicious and painful. By now, Sasuke was coughing up a significant amount of blood.

_'Even now...'_ he though, _'There's still such a big gap between us...! Why is there so big a difference...?' _ Sasuke fell to the ground.

_'What have I been... doing all this time!'_

Itachi picked the younger Uchiha up by the neck, holding him against the wall.

_'What the hell... have I...'_ Sasuke's dazed thought were cut off as his elder brother slowly opened his eyes, Mangekyo blazing, and trapped him once again within the red, black, and white world of the Tsukuyomi.

Itachi just watched, feeling numb but not showing it- _because eight year old Sasuke had ran, but, at twelve, he stood and fought. And it was one thing to resolve to be eternally hated and eventually killed by your brother's hand, but, quite another to experience that hatred. So, Itachi soaked it all up, bearing the burden alone as he always had and always would, because, the least he could do was allow his little brother the tiny bit of solace that hating him brought the younger Uchiha. But, he could only take so much at once. He knew he would hate himself for it later, but, he trapped his precious sibling within the monotone world of Tsukuyomi, anyhow, doomed to once more relive the massacre over and over and over again- because he just couldn't take his screams anymore. And he couldn't afford to break down- not here. Not now. Not after so long._

_Besides, he was already going to hell, anyways._

* * *

The sun was setting as Sasuke thought over Uchiha Madara's words:

_"For the sake of Konoha's peace... and, above all, for your sake, Uchiha Sasuke, he wished to die as a criminal... a traitor. Honor as compensation for dishonor... Hatred in exchange for love... And still Itachi died with a smile on his face._

_"He entrusted the Uchiha name to you, his brother, while at the same time deceiving you forever..."_

Sasuke didn't know whether to forgive his brother or just hate him all the more- _Itachi had lied to him- everything Sasuke had thought he knew had been a lie. But, Sasuke was older now, and he wasn't going to blindly listen to anymore lies-_

No. As Sasuke cried, he decided:

"W shed the name 'Hebi'. From now on, we will act under the name, 'Taka'. Taka has but one goal.

"...Crush Konoha!"

_-he wasn't buying it anymore, the lies his big brother had fed him. Because, whether Itachi wanted it or not, Sasuke was going to reap vengeance on Konoha- both for the Uchiha ichizoku... and for his aniki, who had been wronged in too many ways to count._

* * *

"That Sharingan..." 21 year old Itachi asked his 16 year old brother, "How much can you actually see?"

"How much can I see with these?" Sasuke retorted. "What I'm seeing right now, Itachi... is your death."

Silence filled the room for a few moments, before Itachi leaned back and inquired, "My death, huh?

"Well, then..." he said, suddenly behind his younger brother, "make it happen."

The brother's fought, but, Sasuke needed to say something first, before it got too out of hand.

"Itachi..." he said, "I have one last thing to ask..."

Suddenly, Itachi, whom he had pinned to the floor with his sword, lifted his hand, and pointed. Sasuke turned, to be greeted with the sight of the _real_ Itachi still seated in his stone throne. The genjutsu Itachi under him dispersed. Sasuke stood.

"The same line as before..." he said, "and the bird... Another farce with your special genjutsu?"

Itachi ignored him. Instead, he deigned to reply to his brother's first question, "What do you want to know? It's not over, but, I'll hear you out."

"I'll say it once more..." A sword suddenly imbedded its self in Itachi's chest from behind, and he coughed up blood as 'Sasuke' dispersed into snakes.

'Genjutsu..." the older brother stated.

From behind him, Sasuke ignored him, continuing, "I have one last thing to ask... That's what I said, you bastard! Answer my question. That pain in you chest won't subside until you answer."

"So, you purposely missed a vital spot..."

The younget Uchiha once more ignore him. "You said back then... _'If you awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, there will be three, including myself, who possess its powers. Then... there will be meaning in letting you live.'_ The third person... The other one with a Sharingan... Who in the Uchiha clan is it?" _Sasuke wanted an answer- he had calmly strode in, sure his brother knew he was there already and so not giving him the satisfaction of him getting anxiousor angry and breaking down doors, and he fought for and demamded a response to his question- bit, it didn't bother Itachi. After all, Uchiha Itachi was finally about to find his way out- of life. The least he could do was humour his precious baby brother in his final hours._

* * *

Itachi, 21 and dying, staggered towards his preacious little brother, who was 16 and frozen to the spot in exhaustion and terror- because of him.

The elder brother reached towards the younger, blood-soaked index and middle fingers poking Sasuke on the forehead like he always used to do as he muttered the Tensha Fuuin: Amaterasu; Transcription Seal: Illuminating Heaven so quietly he was sure that his otouto would not hear.

"Sorry, Sasuke..." Itachi told his wide-eyed younger brother, smiling a gentlle, genuine smile for the first time in seven years, "...This is the last time."

And, with that, Uchiha Itachi fell- _and all either brother could think was "Finally. You'll never hurt me again." Because neither thought that they could take anymore emotional or mental abuse. Least of all from each other._

* * *

**Everyone, a moment of silence for Uchiha Itachi, silent hero of the Leaf.**

**...**

**So, yeah, just a little something I wrote for Itachi's birthday, which is today, by the way; June 9th.**

**Anyways, hope you like it; please review.**

**P.S.: Sorry that you're going to have to infer what song lyrics go where; FanFiction took the original down because of them, but, it should be pretty easy; just look at the italisaized bits; it's what relates the scence to the song.**


End file.
